Yves Saint Laurent | Croco Magazine Yves Saint Laurent THE FILMIC LIFE OF YSL Category Papers Written by Boris Ponton – Translated by Sylwia Grzegórzko Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, better known as Yves Saint Laurent, was born in Algeria in 1936 and is regarded as one of the greatest couturiers of French haute couture and pret-a-porter in fashion history. His influence was pivotal in the fashion world of the seventies and early eighties with his innovative styling of cloth and structuring of the female costume where he merged the classic and masculine with the fantastic. Yves was born into a middle class family. He liked to create intricate paper dolls, and by his early teen years he was designing dresses for his mother and sisters. In 1953, aged eighteen, he won a contest for young fashion designers, organized by the International Wool Secretariat and was invited to attend the awards ceremony in Paris. After graduating in Foreign Languages at University in Algeria, he moved to Paris and enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, where he quickly emerged as the star pupil.

He entered the International Wool Secretariat competition again and won, beating the young German student Karl Lagerfeld. His designs impressed Michel de Brunhoff, editor-in-chief of the French edition of Vogue magazine. Brunhoff went on to introduce Yves to the fashion giant, Christian Dior, who after a fifteen-minute interview, offered him a job at the House of Dior which was the most prestigious House in the world of fashion at that time. Dior died aged 52, from a massive heart attack in 1957. Twenty one years old Saint-Laurent, took over management of the brand, and the following year he launched his famous “trapeze dress”, catapulting him to international stardom. Unfortunately, he had to interrupt this work to fulfil his military duties in the Algerian war, but this only lasted two and a half months as he was soon declared unfit for the army on mental health grounds. Yves Saint Laurent holds a drawing of the design that won a contest in Paris en1953. His success in the contest drew the attention of the team of designers at Christian Dior Around the same time, he found out that he had been fired by House of Dior and replaced by Marc Bohan.

Saint Laurent went on to sue Dior in 1961 for breach of contract and with his lover and partner, industrialist Pierre Bergé and a team of collaborators who came from Dior, he started his own fashion house – Yves Saint Laurent YSL. Saint Laurent with his two friends, Betty Catroux and Loulou de la Falaise outside the YSL Rive Gauche boutique in London, 1969 He was the first French couturier to come out with a full prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) line. He popularized trends such as the beatnik look – safari jackets, tight trousers, thigh-high boots and and and pantsuits with the first form of transparency ever – revolutionary for the time. Many of his collections were received rapturously by both his fans and the press, such as the famous classic tuxedo suit for women in 1966, Le Smoking. Still on full blast with the miniskirt, Saint-Laurent, inspired by the colourful paintings of Mondrian, incorporated it into his collection in 1965 with remarkable success. Yves Saint Laurent poses next to a portrait of himself at his Paris boutique in 1966.

Speaking on French radio, Pierre Berge, the designer’s former business and personal partner, said he’d empowered women. “In this sense he was a libertarian, an anarchist and he threw bombs at the legs of society.” In 1966 he opened his first boutique, Rive Gauche, where his first customer was Catherine Deneuve. Rive Gauche quickly developed into a worldwide chain of 150 stores with a staff of ten thousand. In 1974, he introduced a series of haute couture with menswear pants, blazers and shirts, which were characteristics of the female wardrobe from the seventies. Equally, his formal attire was sumptuous, fantastic, colourful, romantic and often inspired by exotic outfits in Cossack style. In 1978, he launched his children’s line of pret-a-porter, exclusively for the United States.

Warhol forged personal relationships with many fashion designers like Yves Saint Laurent, for whom he created a paneled portrait in 1972 based off a series of Polaroids to be sold in the Christie’s auction (pictured) Of Saint-Lauren’s perfumes, ‘Y’ was released in 1964, ‘Rive Gauche’ in 1977, ‘Opium’ in 1981 and ‘Paris’ in 1989. He also made perfumes for men, and famously posed naked in 1971 to advertise their release, causing much consternation. Yves’s innovations in the world of fashion, especially in terms of colour and pattern design, and the incredible number of prototypes made for his collections, were increasingly, globally acclaimed. He also designed costumes for both ballet and theatre, and in 1983 Diana Vreeland organized a retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art – Saint Laurent was the first living designer to receive such an accolade. Over time however, Saint Laurent’s health began to deteriorate under the pressure of designing two haute couture and two prêt-à-porter collections every year and he turned more and more to alcohol and drugs.

The company ran in to several economic problems, and had to merge with the the French public oil-holding company, Elf Sanofi, specifically its Sanofi-Beauté division, which controlled other well-known brands in the fashion world. Saint Laurent and Bergé separated, creating even more havoc to the blighted House and in 1998, the firm was acquired by LVMH. The great couturier died in Paris in 2008, his death a great loss to the world of fashion. The first is a conventional biopic, made for not bothering anyone, that recreates the figure of the character, meteoric me off in the fashion world and his tortured relationship with drugs and Pierre Bergé, partner, lover and protector private life of the great couturier.

From the point of view of the critics, this vision of Yves Saint Laurent, has not curdled far the categorized as classical, monotonous and made to please … The second, Saint Laurent, directed by Bertrand Bonello, director best considered Jalil Lespert , has better creative team is histrionic, lyrical, sometimes macabre and considered by critics as “fascinating from beginning to end.” Bonello has made a more impressionistic work, a portrait showing the life of Saint Laurent during the years 1965-1976 and at some points in his last days of his life. It should be mentioned, that in this film, which premiered at the Cannes festival not to overly convinced that they saw there. In her lovers, excess alcohol and drugs and all mixed with a lot of sleaze and sadness appear. Your search for that most anything in life designer, not finished either own or convince strangers. In both cases, the directors focussed more on the personality of the man rather than his magnificent talent and his artistic universe.

In the end, it is the public who has the last word – the public who will make their own judgment on the intense and exciting life of the great character that was Yves Saint Laurent. 12 Most Expensive Clothing Brands of 2013 | Amazing Beautiful World | Page 4 12 Most Expensive Clothing Brands of 2013 PREVIOUS NEXT #9. Yves Saint Laurent French fashion great Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, better known as Yves Saint Laurent, has been considered one of the greatest assets to the world of fashion since his entry into the arena in the 1950s. Getting his start and working his way up to Creative Director at the House of Dior, Yves Saint Laurent learned from the best before launching his own brand which was famous for both its cutting edge styles and social policies. Since then his fashion house has become a household name, especially for the rich and powerful. Yves Saint Laurent Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline Fashion Yves Saint Laurent Biography Yves Saint Laurent was an Algerian-French fashion designer, one of the greatest and most celebrated icons of the fashion industry.

This biography provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline. Quick Facts Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Founder/Co-Founder Yves Saint Laurent Couture House, House of Yves Saint Laurent, Yves Saint Laurent perfumes and colognes, Vouguepedia awards: 2007 - Grand officier de la LÃ©gion d'honneur Yves Henri Donat Matthieu Saint Laurent was an Algerian-French fashion designer who is one of the greatest and most celebrated icons of the fashion industry. World renowned since the age of 21 when he shot to fame as the savior of Christian Dior, he is credited with having introduced the tuxedo suit for women and was known for his use of non-European cultural references, and non-white models. Born and raised in colonial Algeria, he was taken in by Dior as an assistant while Yves was studying in Paris as a teenager. Addressed as a hero in France for saving the company after Dior's death, his world collapsed when he was conscripted into the French army and lost his job.

At the time, his lover, Pierre Berge, came to his rescue and helped him to set up his own couture house. He opened his own fashion house and quickly emerged as one of the most influential designers in Paris. With an amazing business acumen, his firm dominated fashion throughout the 1960-70s, making him fabulously wealthy. But the pressures of fame and the commercial constraints of fashion took a toll on him. The charismatic young man fell prey to addiction and depression, retreating from the world to live as a recluse. As he withdrew, his financial affairs came under scrutiny, culminating in the sale of his empire to a state-controlled company. He was a renowned designer who changed the way women dress with a series of innovations which are now regarded as classics. Childhood & Early Life He was born on August 1, 1936, in Oran, Algeria, to Charles Saint Laurent, a lawyer and insurance broker, and his wife, Lucienne Mathieu. He was the eldest child of the family with two younger sisters, MichÃ¨le and Brigitte. From a young age, he was a nervous child and mostly remained sick.

He had a keen interest in creating intricate paper dolls, and by his early teen years he was designing dresses for his mother and sisters. After completing his secondary education in Algeria, he moved to Paris to pursue a career in designing theatrical costumes and womenâs fashion. He attended fashion school at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, for a short time and won first prize in an international design contest. Career In Paris, he showed his drawings to Michel de Brunhoff, director of French âVogueâ magazine, who published several of them immediately. Following a stint at fashion school, he was introduced to Christian Dior, a legendary fashion designer, who immediately offered him a job at his firm. In 1957, he became the head designer of the House of Christian Dior S.A. After taking over as art director for Dior, he launched his first collection for the company, the Ligne TrapÃ©ze. In 1960, he introduced the chic beatnik look of turtlenecks and black leather jackets edged with fur. The same year, he was conscripted to serve in the French Army during the Algerian War of Independence and lost his job at Dior.

His lover, Pierre Burge, came to his rescue and helped him set up his own fashion house, âYves Saint Laurentâ (YSL) in 1962 with funds from J. Mack Robinson, an Atlanta millionaire. In 1966, he introduced âLe Smokingâ, his legendary smoking suit. His other innovations include the sheer blouse (1966), and the jumpsuit (1968). Throughout the years, he continued to design both the YSL haute couture and pret-a-porter collections, continuously refining his timeless, elegant designs for sophisticated women. In October 1998, he showed his last ready-to-wear collection for the Rive Gauche label, which he had founded more than 30 years before. In 2002, he did his last show and took his final bow in the fashion industry. Major Works His spring 1958 collection almost certainly saved the enterprise Christian Dior S.A from financial ruin; his creations, a softer version of Dior's New Look, catapulted him to international stardom with what would later be known as the "trapeze dress".

In the 1960s and 1970s, the firm popularized fashion trends such as the beatnik look; safari jackets for men and women; tight trousers; tall, thigh-high boots; and arguably the most famous classic tuxedo suit for women âLe Smokingâ. By feminizing the basic shapes of the male wardrobe, YSL set new standards for world fashion. Awards & Achievements In 1983, he became the first living fashion designer to be honored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a solo exhibition. In 2001, he was conferred with the rank of the âCommander of the LÃ©gion d'Honneurâ by French president Jacques Chirac. In 2007, he was awarded the rank of the âGrand Officier de la LÃ©gion d'honneurâ by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Personal Life & Legacy He was involved in a romantic relationship with industrialist Pierre BergÃ©, with whom he also started their own fashion house. The couple split romantically in 1976 but remained business partners.

He died on June 1, 2008 of brain cancer at his residence in Paris, after a long illness. He received a Catholic funeral at St Roch Catholic Church in Paris and after cremation, his ashes were scattered in Marrakech, Morocco, in the Majorelle Garden. Translate this page to Spanish, French, Hindi, Portuguese Pictures of Yves Saint Laurent Quotes By Yves Saint Laurent Also Listed In Yves Saint Laurent: the final show archive | Photography | Agenda | Phaidon Yves Saint Laurent: the final show archive Yves Saint Laurent: the final show archive New book offers insight into designer's private universe 1 of 10 Next » Yves Saint Laurent having lunch at home in Paris, 21 January 2002, the day before his haute couture show at the Pompidou Centre Alexandra Boulat The luxury brands building on the arts and cultural scene around the world In a career of many firsts, Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent - better known as Yves Saint Laurent - dragged couture fashion from its Sixties decline, became the first fashion designer to use ethnic models on the catwalk and, perhaps most famously, made ready-to-wear reputable.

When he died in 2008, he left an art collection worth 342.5 million euros. The following year he was reputedly the world's richest dead celebrity. The Life photographer Pierre Boulat photographed Laurent's debut collection in 1962 shortly before he went on to work for Christian Dior. Forty years later Boulat’s daughter, Alexandra, documented the preparation and build up to the designer's last ever collection, which he showed at the Pompidou Centre in Paris on January 22, 2002. At the Pompidou, Laurent presented a selection of his best-ever work. Claudia Schiffer modelled one of Laurent’s classic sixties safari suits originally worn by model Veruschka, while Jerry Hall channelled Marlene Dietrich in a white satin gown and ostrich feather coat. Boulat was allowed into Saint Laurent's Paris studio while he worked on both the final touches to the collection and his plans for showcasing the haute couture highlights of his 40-year career. Boulat captured moments of intimacy, creation and solitude amidst the chaos of Saint Laurent's final preparations for the show.

Her photographs appear in a new book Questions Without Answers published by Phaidon next month alongside fellow VII Photo Agency photographers Marcus Bleasdale, Ron Haviv, Ed Kashi, Gary Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, Joachum Ladefoged, Christopher Morris, Franco Pagetti, Stephanie Sinclair and John Stanmeyer. SHARE THIS PAGE YVES SAINT LAURENT - Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, known as Yves Saint Laurent ( French pronunciation: ​ [iv sɛ̃ lɔʁɑ̃], August 1, 1936 – June 1, 2008), was a French fashion designer, and is regarded as one of the greatest names in fashion history. In 1985, Caroline Rennolds Milbank wrote, “The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture’s rise from its sixties ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable.” He is also credited with having introduced the tuxedo suit for women and was known for his use of non-European cultural references, and non-white models. Y.S.

LAURENT Yves Henri Donat Matthieu-Saint-Laurent was born on 1 August 1936, in Oran, French Algeria, to Charles and Lucienne Andrée Mathieu-Saint-Laurent. He grew up in a villa by the Mediterranean with his two younger sisters, Michèle and Brigitte. Yves liked to create intricate paper dolls, and by his early teen years he was designing dresses for his mother and sisters. At the age of 18, Saint Laurent moved to Paris and enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, where his designs quickly gained notice. Michel De Brunhoff, the editor of French Vogue, introduced Saint Laurent to designer Christian Dior, a giant in the fashion world. “Dior fascinated me,” Saint Laurent later recalled. “I couldn’t speak in front of him. He taught me the basis of my art. Whatever was to happen next, I never forgot the years I spent at by his side.” Under Dior’s tutelage, Saint Laurent’s style continued to mature and gain even more notice. LAURENT In 1953, Saint Laurent submitted three sketches to a contest for young fashion designers, organized by the International Wool Secretariat.

He won first place and was invited to attend the awards ceremony in Paris, in December of that year. While he and his mother were in Paris, they met Michel de Brunhoff, editor-in-chief of the French edition of Vogue magazine. De Brunhoff, a considerate person known for encouraging new talent, was impressed by the sketches Saint Laurent brought with him and suggested he become a fashion designer. Saint Laurent would eventually consider a course of study at the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, the council which regulates the haute couture industry and provides training to its employees. Saint Laurent followed his advice and, leaving Oran for Paris after graduation, began his studies there and eventually graduated as a star pupil. Later that same year, he entered the International Wool Secretariat competition again and won, beating out his friend Fernando Sánchez and young German student Karl Lagerfeld. Shortly after his win, he brought a number of sketches to de Brunhoff who recognized close similarities to sketches he had been shown that morning by Christian Dior. Knowing that Dior had created the sketches that morning and that the young man could not have seen them, de Brunhoff sent him to Dior, who hired him on the spot.

Although Dior recognized his talent immediately, Saint Laurent spent his first year at the House of Dior on mundane tasks, such as decorating the studio and designing accessories. Eventually, however, he was allowed to submit sketches for the couture collection; with every passing season, more of his sketches were accepted by Dior. In August 1957, Dior met with Saint Laurent’s mother to tell her that he had chosen Saint Laurent to succeed him as designer. His mother later said that she had been confused by the remark, as Dior was only 52 years old at the time. Both she and her son were surprised when in October of that year Dior died at a health spa in northern Italy of a massive heart attack. In 1957, Saint Laurent found himself at age 21 the head designer of the House of Christian Dior S.A.. His spring 1958 collection almost certainly saved the enterprise from financial ruin; the straight line of his creations, a softer version of Dior’s New Look, catapulted him to international stardom with what would later be known as the “trapeze dress.” Others included in the collection were dresses with a narrow shoulder and flared gently at the bottom.

At this time, he shortened his surname to Saint Laurent because the international press found his hyphenated triple name difficult to spell. His fall 1958 collection was not greeted with the same level of approval as his first collection, and later collections for the House of Dior featuring hobble skirts and beatnik fashions were savaged by the press. In 1959, he was chosen by Farah Diba, who was a student in Paris, to design her wedding dress for her marriage to the Shah of Iran. In 1960, Saint Laurent found himself conscripted to serve in the French Army during the Algerian War of Independence. Alice Rawsthorn writes that there was speculation at the time that Marcel Boussac, the owner of the House of Dior and a powerful press baron, had put pressure on the government not to conscript Saint Laurent in 1958 and 1959 but reversed course and asked that the designer be conscripted after the disastrous 1960 season so that he could be replaced. Laurent In 1983, Saint Laurent became the first living fashion designer to be honored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a solo exhibition.

In 2001, he was awarded the rank of Commander of the Légion d’Honneur by French president Jacques Chirac. Saint Laurent retired in 2002 and became increasingly reclusive, living at his homes in Normandy and Morocco with his pet French Bulldog Moujik. He also created a foundation with Bergé in Paris to trace the history of the house of YSL, complete with 15,000 objects and 5,000 pieces of clothing. A favorite among his female clientele, Saint Laurent had numerous muses that inspired his work. Chief among these was Mounia – his oft used “bride” and ‘Porgy and Bess’ thematic Couture-garment model and frequent YSL cover-model in Women’s Wear Daily and French Vogue.

Among his other muses were Loulou de la Falaise, the daughter of a French marquis and an Anglo-Irish fashion model; Somali supermodel Iman, whom he once described as his “dream woman”; Betty Catroux, the half-Brazilian daughter of an American diplomat and wife of a French decorator; French actress Catherine Deneuve; Dutch actress Talitha Pol-Getty; Nicole Dorier, a YSL top model in 1978–83, who became one of his assistants in organizing his runway shows and, later, the “memory” of his house when it became a museum; Guinean-born Senegalese supermodel Katoucha Niane; Togolese-born supermodel Rebecca Ayoko and supermodel Laetitia Casta, who was the bride in his shows in 1997–2002. In 2007, he was awarded the rank of Grand Officier de la Légion d’honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Saint Laurent died 1 June 2008 of brain cancer at his residence in Paris.

According to The New York Times, a few days prior, he and Bergé had been joined in a same-sex civil union known as a Pacte civil de solidarité (PACS) in France. When Saint Laurent was diagnosed with brain cancer, Bergé and the doctor mutually decided that it would be better for him to not know of his impending death. Bergé said, “I have the belief that Yves would not have been strong enough to accept that.” Saint Laurent was survived by his mother and sisters; his father had died in 1988. Saint Laurent was given a Catholic funeral at St Roch Catholic Church in Paris. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered in Marrakech, Morocco, in the Majorelle Garden, a residence and botanical garden that he owned with Bergé since 1980 and often visited to find inspiration and refuge. Bergé said at the funeral service: “But I also know that I will never forget what I owe you and that one day I will join you under the Moroccan palms” (translated from French).

The funeral attendants included Empress Farah Pahlavi, Madame Chirac, and President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni.Forbes rated Saint Laurent the top-earning dead celebrity in 2009. YSL Citytomb | biography and picturesYves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent Life events: Earlyyears: Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent was born in Oran, Algeria. He grew up in a villa by the Mediterranean with his two younger sisters, Michelle and Brigitte. While his family was relatively well off—his father was a lawyer and insurance broker who owned a chain of cinemas—childhood for the future fashion icon was not easy. Saint Laurent was not popular in school, and was often bullied by schoolmates for appearing to be homosexual. As a consequence, Saint Laurent was a nervous child and sick nearly every day. He liked to create intricate paper dolls, and by his early teen years he was designing dresses for his mother and sisters. In 1953, Saint Laurent submitted three sketches to a contest for young fashion designers, organized by the International Wool Secretariat.

He won first place and was invited to attend the awards ceremony in Paris, in December of that year. While he and his mother were in Paris, they met Michel de Brunhoff, editor-in-chief of the French edition of Vogue magazine. De Brunhoff, a considerate person known for encouraging new talent, was impressed by the sketches Saint Laurent brought with him and suggested he become a fashion designer. Saint Laurent would eventually consider a course of study at the ChambreSyndicale de la Haute Couture, the council which regulates the haute couture industry and provides training to its employees. Saint Laurent followed his advice and, leaving Oran for Paris after graduation, began his studies there and eventually graduated as a star pupil. Later that same year, he entered the International Wool Secretariat competition again and won, beating out his friend Fernando Sánchez and young German student Karl Lagerfeld. Shortly after his win, he brought a number of sketches to de Brunhoff who recognized close similarities to sketches he had been shown that morning by Christian Dior. Knowing that Dior had created the sketches that morning and that the young man could not have seen them, de Brunhoff sent him to Dior, who hired him on the spot.

Under Dior's tutelage, Saint Laurent's style continued to mature and gain still more notice.In 1959, he was chosen by Farah Diba, who was a student in Paris, to design her wedding dress for her marriage to the Shah of Iran. In 1960, he was conscripted into the French Army. His spell in the service was short-lived however, and he was transferred into a French mental hospital suffering from stress, where he underwent psychiatric treatment, including electroshock therapy, for a nervous breakdown. He served in the military for just 20 days. In 1962, in the wake of his nervous breakdown, Saint Laurent was released from Dior and started his own label, YSL, financed by his companion, Pierre Bergé. The money and the freedom soon presented Saint Laurent with a unique opportunity. In cooperation with his partner and lover, Pierre Berge, the designer resolved to open his own fashion house. With the rise of pop culture and a general yearning for original, fresh designs, Saint Laurent's timing couldn't have been better. He was a heavy drinker and frequent user of cocaine during the 1960s and 1970s.

The Rive Gauche boutiques for women were established in 1966, and men's wear followed in the 1970s. He was the first designer to use ethnic minorities as models on the runway. Many of his collections were received rapturously by both his fans and the press, such as the fall 1965 collection, which introduced Le Smoking tailored tuxedo suit. Other collections raised great controversy, such as his spring 1971 collection, which was inspired by 1940s fashion. Some felt it romanticized the German occupation of France during World War II, which he personally did not experience, while others felt it brought back the unattractive utilitarianism of the time. The French newspaper France Soir called the spring 1971 collection "Unegrande farce!" Later years: In 1977, YSL launched the very popular 'Opium' perfume. In the late 1970s, he and Bergé bought a neo-gothic villa, Château Gabriel in Benerville-sur-Mer, near Deauville, France.

Yves Saint Laurent was a great admirer of Marcel Proust who had been a frequent guest of Gaston Gallimard, one of the previous owners of the villa. When they bought Château Gabriel, Saint Laurent and Bergé commissioned Jacques Grange to decorate it with themes inspired by Proust'sRemembrance of Things Past. By the 1980s, Yves Saint Laurent was a true icon. He became the first designer to have a retrospective on his work at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. Under the direction of Berge, who continued to manage Saint Laurent's firm even though the two had broken up in 1986, the fashion house flourished as a money making venture.In 1992, the YSL brand ran into a bit of trouble when CEO Pierre Borge was convicted of insider trading and sentenced to a fine of 1 million Francs. The company nevertheless continued to be competitive in the world of fashion.In 1996, the designer ended his 30-year run of fashion shows for his Pret-a-Porter collection.

From then until his retirement, Saint Laurent offered peeks at his new designs to a select group of journalists alone.He also created a foundation with Bergé in Paris to trace the history of the house of YSL, complete with 15,000 objects and 5,000 pieces of clothing. By the end of the decade, with Saint Laurent slowing down his work pace, he and Berge had sold the company they'd started, netting the two men a fortune. Saint Laurent had often touted himself as the last truly authentic couturier before his retirement in 2002. Since that time, Stefano Pilati has acted as the company’s Haute Couture designer. Five years later, Saint Laurent's imprint and importance on French culture was cemented when he was appointed Grand Officer of the Legion d'honnerur by French President, Nicolas Sarkozy. Yves Saint Laurent passed away in Paris on June 1, 2008 after a brief illness. A number of the designer's belongings were sold at auction the year after his death, including Egyptian sculptures and paintings by Picasso. He had collected these works with Berg who decided to sell them as 'it has lost the greatest part of its significance'.

Some of the proceeds were donated towards creating a new foundation devoted to Aids research. In 2014, two movies, Saint Laurent (film) and Yves Saint Laurent (film), focused on his life. Education: At the age of 18, Saint Laurent moved to Paris and enrolled at the ChambreSyndicale de la Haute Couture. He attended fashion school for a short time and won first prize in an international design contest. Occupations and Career: He was a fashion designer, and is regarded as one of the greatest names in fashion history.He became head designer at Dior in 1957, producing six collections before he was replaced in 1960. He started his own couture house two years later, going on to launch Y, his first perfume for women (1964), the Rive Gauche boutiques for women (1966), and menswear (1974). He also brought his design expertise to bear on other fields, styling the actress Catherine Deneuve for the Luis Bunuel film Belle du jour, a fashion-film star relationship that gained recognition for Saint Laurent with an ‘Oscar’ award from Harper's Bazaar.

By the mid-1970s, at the height of his success, his design empire included sweaters, neckties, eyeglass cases, linens, children's clothes, and fragrances. Gucci acquired his ready-to-wear and cosmetics divisions in 2000. He retired in 2002. Awards /Honors: In 1985 he was awarded the Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur by the president of France, François Mitterand. In 2007, he was awarded the rank of Grand officier de la Légiond'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Death, place of deh, Time of death, placate of burial: Saint Laurent died June 1, 2008 of brain cancer at his residence in Paris. He was given a Catholic funeral at St. Roch Catholic Church in Paris. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered in Marrakech, Morocco, in the Majorelle Garden, a residence and botanical garden that he owned with Bergé since 1980 and often visited to find inspiration and refuge. Quotes and Memoirs: Fashions fade, style is eternal.

We must never confuse elegance with snobbery. Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it. I have often said that I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity - all I hope for in my clothes. I adore America. It's an extraordinary country. A new country. A good model can advance fashion by ten years. I wish I had invented blue jeans. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity - all I hope for in my clothes. I want to thank all the women who have worn my clothes, the famous and the unknown, who have been so faithful to me and given me so much joy. I'd really like to be in closer contact with life. I'm a little too distant, I guess. I like to place myself outside. I'm so secluded, Very alone. I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style. It pains me physically to see a woman victimized, rendered pathetic, by fashion. I couldn't love a woman who inspired me to be totally disinterested.

If I fell in love with a woman for an artistic reason, or from the point of view of my work, I think it would rob her of something. References: WOTD It pains me physically to see a woman victimized, rendered pathetic, by fashion ~ Yves Saint Laurent Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, known as Yves Saint Laurent (August 1, 1936 – June 1, 2008), was a French fashion designer, one of the greatest names in fashion history. In 1985, Caroline Rennolds Milbank wrote, "The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture's rise from its sixties ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable." He is also credited with having introduced the tuxedo suit for women, became the first designer to use ethnic models in his runway shows, and referenced other non-European cultures in his work.

These trilogy of documentaries have been made about Saint Laurent's life: David Teboul's "Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times" (2002), "Yves Saint Laurent: 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris" (2002), and Pierre Thoretton's "L'Amour Fou" (2009). The Yves Saint Laurent boutique on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California. Yves Saint Laurent was born in Oran, Algeria; left for Paris after secondary school to pursue a fashion career; and at 17 was hired as couturier Christian Dior's assistant. When Dior died four years later, he was named head of the House of Dior. In 1961, Saint Laurent opened his own fashion house and quickly emerged as one of the world's most influential and spectacular designers. In 1983, Saint Laurent became the first living fashion designer to be honored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a solo exhibition. In 2001, he was awarded the rank of Commander of the Légion d'Honneur by French president Jacques Chirac.

He retired in 2002 and became increasingly reclusive, living at his homes in Normandy and Morocco with his pet French Bulldog Moujik. He also created a foundation with Bergé in Paris to trace the history of the house of YSL, complete with 15,000 objects and 5,000 pieces of clothing. A favorite among his female clientele, Saint Laurent had numerous muses that inspired his work.

Chief among these was the Somali supermodel Iman, whom he once described as his "dream woman." Other muses included Loulou de la Falaise, the daughter of a French marquis and an Anglo-Irish fashion model; Betty Catroux, the half-Brazilian daughter of an American diplomat and wife of a French decorator; Talitha Pol-Getty; French actress Catherine Deneuve; Nicole Dorier, a YSL top model in 1978–83, who became one of his assistants in organizing his runway shows and, later, the "memory" of his house when it became a museum; Guinean-born Senegalese supermodel Katoucha Niane; supermodel Laetitia Casta, who was the bride in his shows in 1997–2002. In 2007, he was awarded the rank of Grand officier de la Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He died June 1, 2008 of brain cancer at his residence in Paris.

According to The New York Times, a few days before he died, Saint Laurent and Bergé were joined in a same-sex civil union known as a Pacte civil de solidarité (PACS) in France. He was survived by his mother and sisters; his father had died in 1988. Yves' body was cremated and his ashes scattered in Marrakech, Morocco, in the Majorelle Garden, a botanical garden that he often visited to find inspiration and refuge. Bergé said at the funeral service: “But I also know that I will never forget what I owe you and that one day I will join you under the Moroccan palms” (translated from French). The funeral attendants included Empress Farah Pahlavi, Madame Chirac, and President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife at the time. Forbes rated Saint Laurent the top-earning dead celebrity in 2009. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License . It uses material from the Wikipedia article " YSL ".

10 FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT YVES SAINT LAURENT You are here: Home / Inspirational People / fashion / 10 FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT YVES SAINT LAURENT 10 FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT YVES SAINT LAURENT 15 SUBSCRIBE AND GET FREE FRESH TIPS RIGHT INTO YOUR MAILBOX * indicates required 10 Fascinating facts about Yves Saint Laurent Advertisement The French fashion designer Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, who is better known worldwide as Yves Saint Laurent, was born on 1 August 1936 and died June 1, 2008. He has been called the most consistently celebrated and influential designer ever and is regarded as one of the greatest names in fashion design. You know the name and you know the label, but how much do you know about the man himself? Here are ten facts about Yves Saint Laurent that you may not have known: 1. He started in fashion as a boy Yves Saint Laurent had an eye for fashion from a very young age and he started his career by designing dresses for his two sisters and his mother.

The world of fashion design was opened up to him, when his mother took him to Paris, at the age of seventeen, to meet the editor of French Vogue, Michael DeBrunhoff. 2. He was bullied when he was a child The designers’ interest in fashion and clothes lead him to being bullied at school for appearing to be gay. Sadly, his childhood was a pretty cloudy one and he was known to be a nervous child who frequently took time off from school. 3. He was born in Algiers Yves Saint Laurent was born in French occupied Algeria and didn’t move to France until he was in his late teens. He first came to prominence when he won a design contest organised by the International Wool Secretariat. It was then that he came to the attention of Christian Dior, who hired the young designer on the spot. Advertisement 4. He served briefly in the army He was called up to serve in the army in his native Algeria, but he only served for about twenty days. The army wasn’t the place for the young designer and he suffered a nervous breakdown and was transferred to a French Mental hospital, suffering from stress. 5.

Cristian Dior sacked him When Yves Saint Laurent returned from his ill-fated brief spell in the army, he found that his job with Cristian Dior was no more. The news came as a big shock to the designer, but he went on to set up his own designer label and eventually collected £48,000 in compensation from Dior. 6. He once posed naked The designer shocked the fashion world when he posed naked in 1971 in an advertisement for his own cologne for men, Pour Homme. The picture wasn’t especially targeted at gay men, but it is said to have had a strong resonance within the gay community. 7. He was the first living designer honoured by the Metropolitan Museum of Art In 1983, YSL was honoured by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York city, with his own, solo, exhibition, the first living person to be given such an honour. 8. He suffered from mental disorders and addictions Advertisement His childhood and army experiences had a marked impact on his life and Yves Saint Laurent had a lifelong battle with bi-polar disorder, alcoholism and drug abuse.

According to his lover, Pierre Bergé, Yves Saint Laurent was crazy with happiness one day and black with depression the next. 9. He feminised male fashion Famous for the “Le Smoking” tuxedo jacket and for his see-through blouses, Yves Saint Laurent has also been credited for feminising the entire male wardrobe. He was one of the first designers to bring cutting and shape to the male wardrobe. 10. He is credited with empowering women and ethnic minorities Yves Saint Laurent has been credited as the person who democratised fashion and making it available to more people. He was the first designer to use models from ethnic minorities and his designs brought looks to women that had only previously available to men. Do you want to share some other facts about Yves Saint Laurent? Feel free to share them in the comment section below. Stay happy!

Question: Henri Donat Mathieu was better known as whom?
Answer: YVES ST. LAURENT